Main Street Washington gives residents the chance to let the memory of a loved one keep Central Park aglow during the holiday season with their annual Lights of Love memorial tree program.

The public has less than a month to reserve a live tree that will be placed along the sidewalks of the park trimmed with white lights and a large red bow, and will have a wooden plaque identifying the honoree. Main Street Director Sarah Grunewaldt says they begin plans early for this dedication, “We preorder those trees in July with Ace-N-More here in town, they’re wonderful. And we want to make sure we get on their schedule early enough so that we can get the trees. And then also we get them delivered right around Thanksgiving and we have to have time to assemble them, put them up, get the fence posts in the park, get the lights strung on them and everything before the holiday parade on the 27th.”

The trees are installed during the week of Thanksgiving, and donors are welcome to add their own decorations to their loved one’s tree (Main Street Washington strongly encourages shatterproof ornaments). The trees will remain lit throughout the holiday season, and afterwards are mulched by city employees for the parks. Cost is $100 to dedicate a tree, which helps support Main Street Washington’s continued revitalization efforts in the downtown district. You can find a link to reserve by visiting here.